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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Drinks with no sweeteners

145 replies

fluffymuggle · 09/10/2019 12:45

Posting for traffic. Since the sugar tax it’s been hard to find drinks without sweeteners. All my favourites are ruined. Winter won’t be the same without a hot Ribena! Anyone know of anything I can buy? Struggling with HG and can’t keep water down but can keep other things down.

OP posts:
Coffeeandchocolate9 · 10/10/2019 08:11

Morrison's squash doesn't have sweeteners - the only brand I buy now.

D'you know what, I ruddy love Morrisons for many reasons and I'm just going to add this to my list of them! Pity I live nowhere near one isn't it Sad

BarbaraofSeville · 10/10/2019 08:59

Morrison's squash doesn't have sweeteners - the only brand I buy now

Which type? Even their high juice has sweeteners according to the website.

Pinacola · 10/10/2019 09:08

My husband has switched to Waitrose blackcurrant high juice, as he doesn't like sweetener laden Ribena anymore

Pinacola · 10/10/2019 09:13

Sorry, he's on Sainsbury's high juice now as Waitrose blackcurrant is sugar free now too!

MoltoAgitato · 10/10/2019 09:14

Tesserie syrups from France are sweetener free. Waitrose and Amazon sell them but they are expensive.

AlanThePig · 10/10/2019 09:42

Ds took me to the cinema last night as a birthday treat and we decided to eat in Pizza Hut first. I don’t drink alcohol and this particular branch didn’t stock anything that wasn’t sugar free. I ended up with a pint of water.
Another place crossed off the places to eat list for me. This is on top of KFC now also no longer serving full fat drinks.

I’m an adult. Let me make my choices. And Pizza Hut, you’re ridiculous. I can have as many beers as I want in your restaurant but a coke is bad. Hilarious.

BarbaraofSeville · 10/10/2019 09:51

I hate this aspect of eating out. If I'm not drinking, it's pretty much impossible to order a soft drink that doesn't have sweetners in - I don't like Coke, so that's not an option.

I used to have lime and soda but whatever brand most pubs use tastes like soap and leaves an awful after taste. Although I am thankful for a Mumsnetters suggestion on a previous thread like this to get orange juice and soda as I hadn't thought of that. You just have to watch that they don't try to sell you J20, because despite it looking like fruit juice, that also has sweeteners in.

BarbaraofSeville · 10/10/2019 09:55

I think the problem is that the obvious choice for those who drink so many calories and consume so much sugar that it's an issue is to cut down so that sugary drinks are an occasional treat, rather than an everyday occurrence, but obviously the business lobby is too powerful for the government to make that recommendation - most soft drinks are made by mega multinationals.

So they have to make it so people still drink gallons of the stuff but the sugar is replaced by sweeteners so that they aren't consuming too many calories.

Aph413 · 10/10/2019 10:00

@ratsnest I buy Mr Fitzpatricks cream soda syrup and mix it with sparkling water. No sweeteners in that, not sure where to buy it in store as most places seem to have the sugar free version but you can order from their website.

Elphame · 10/10/2019 10:26

I have now resorted to taking my own cans of tonic (Fever Tree) to the pub if I want a G&T. Utterly ridiculous that the choice to consume sugar has been taken away from us in favour of artificial chemicals.

Zaphodsotherhead · 10/10/2019 11:06

DD and I bought some bottled flavoured water the other day - it was so full of sweeteners as to be undrinkable. Where's all the 'water with a hint of flavouring and not tonnes of fake sugar?' It's no wonder people are getting fatter, their palates are so used to everything being super-sweet!

TateWorm · 10/10/2019 11:21

Morrison's squash doesn't have sweeteners - the only brand I buy now

Not our Morrison's, which one do you get? I once went through the whole aisle checking every single bottle and the only ones they had which was fine was the Bottle Green and Belvoir ones which I know are ok.

And yes to whoever said eating out can be a nightmare, I like Coke but so many places sell Pepsi now instead which I don't like so I'm usually stuck with fresh fruit juice or water, might try the fruit juice with soda water idea at some point though. It's actually safer for me to order alcohol (wine or beer anyway, nothing that involves a mixer) than a soft drink in so many places which is ridiculous!

AllStarBySmashMouth · 10/10/2019 11:48

Ugh it's so stressful. I find myself constantly worrying about wha

AllStarBySmashMouth · 10/10/2019 11:51

Woops! Hit post!

Ugh it's so stressful. I find myself constantly worrying about what I drink. Aspartame makes me really sick. It's a very severe reaction that I take and it will last for days. I can't afford that, ever. So I'm always vigilant. Only order Cola or Pepsi no matter where I go. Can't drink Irn Bru anymore - had to switch to the Energy stuff. Constantly paying more for drinks not because I'm in danger of obesity (I'm 9 stone!!) but because if I don't, I'm bedridden for days.

Fuck the sugar tax.

ratsnest · 10/10/2019 15:46

@Aph413 ooooh, notes thank you, I'd never heard of that Smile

ratsnest · 10/10/2019 15:47

*noted

Batqueen · 10/10/2019 15:53

Try Dash water. They sell the raspberry and lemon ones at zizzi!

It’s got no sugar or sweeteners just fruit infused sparkling water. Really yummy.

Batqueen · 10/10/2019 15:57

Just checked their website - apparently Dash are in Sainsbury’s

PhonicTheHedgehog · 10/10/2019 18:22

I used to love an occasional Rubicon mango juice. Most places sell the reduced sugar stuff BUT Sainsbury’s have started selling Rubicon Mango Deluxe which is the original sugary version.

timshelthechoice · 10/10/2019 18:37

Irn Bru. Haven't bought it since they fucked it up with sweeteners.

MissCharleyP · 10/10/2019 21:23

AlanThePig It’s shit isn’t it! Gutted about Pizza Hut, my local one used to have a brand called Virgil’s which had no sweetners. Haven’t been for a while but it was one place on my safe list. I’m fed up of bloody water every time we want to eat out! There is a pub chain called Farmhouse Inns that has Fever Tree tonic, Appletiser and Cawston Press available.

FizzyIce · 10/10/2019 21:34

A lot of you on here sound really healthy and going for “fruit infused “ drinks .. I’m just pissed they fucked around with so many ‘full fat’ drinks like Dr Pepper and ribena .
They all taste bloody foul, I hate sweeteners so much !
Apparently ,those who can’t stand the taste of them have more tastebuds than those who don’t mind them or can’t really taste the difference.. that’s both dh and I .

madeyemoodysmum · 10/10/2019 21:37

Waitrose has the best selection of non sweetener cordials and you only need a teeny amount as they are very sweet indeed. Sainsbos also do a decent range of fizzy cans that are non sweetened

madeyemoodysmum · 10/10/2019 21:38

Also anyone noticed how cheap Ribeana is now. I think they must be losing money and still holding out for a original version to be brought back to the shelves.

happycamper11 · 10/10/2019 21:50

Tesco high juice is ok - contains sweetness but limited and not detectable by taste. Sainsbury's high juice I'm sure I'd completely free of sweetness if you buy the full sugar variety. That's about it. I ended up with tap water in my local the that week as they had absolutely no full sugar options of cola or anything else